THE BUSINESS OF EDUCATION - International Indian

[ EDITORIAL ]
Calling Indian Hindus, Indian Muslims,
Indian Christians: Divide and They Win
Longstanding readers of TII are familiar
with my views on institutionalized faith
through middlemen vs personal faith
in God. One keeps you horizontally bound
to man-made dictates, the other vertically
connects with the Creator. In my own spiritual
journey I discovered there is a life changing
difference between following something
called Christianity and genuine faith in Christ.
So my reaction to the current destruction of
Christian worship places in India that people
call “church’’ differs from the general outcry.
The word ‘church’ is not an exclusive
Christian term anymore than geographically
‘Hindu’ is exclusively for practitioners of
Hinduism. It originates from ekklesia, a word
used in the context of Athenian democracy by
referring to a chosen assembly of individuals.
Somehow church buildings have acquired
unnecessary religious significance, missing
the wood for the trees. In destroying churches,
the perpetrators of violence against Indian
Christians need to understand that true
faith-not the cultural variety is impossible to
eradicate. They only have to study ancient
Rome, Russia or Communist China’s relentless
attempts to wipe out their people’s faith and
carefully evaluate the situation there today.
It is now obvious what the Sangh Parivar
is up to across the country, but if the BJP’s
proxy army of goons doesn’t halt ‘Operation
Persecute’ they could eventually be responsible
for altering India’s spiritual landscape into one
they least expect. Wishful thinking? Not really,
just a lesson from the pages of history. Genuine
faith in Christ is not like a club membership-it
cannot be inherited, bought, sold, transferred
or forcibly implanted. The scriptures (John
15: 16) in fact clarify that God chooses people,
not the other way around. Paradoxically in
his great mercy he also says, “Ask, and you
will receive.” That incredible transaction for
salvation is not signing up to something manmade
called Christianity, it is fulfilling the
longing of every human heart to be freed from
sin and certain of a place in eternity.
It is a privilege to interact with people of
various faiths who genuinely seek the vertical
divine connection and share important
convictions. Long ago I stopped seeing
people as Hindus, Muslims, Christians etc.,
so taking sides and joining the blame game
against a particular religious community for
the atrocities in India is not an option. All we
Indians need to be clear about is that a nexus
of criminal politicians, disaffected individuals
goaded by unlawful political and religious
groups is single-mindedly at work in our land.
If they succeed in dividing us, they win.
India is being taken over by hoodlums and
neither the state nor the citizenry seem to
understand the grave danger. Petty rajahs ruled
before and the British seized their kingdoms,
but today individuals with private armies
possess wealth and influence from established
power bases throughout the country. Lawless
organisations like the Bajrang Dal, MNS etc.,
effortlessly challenge the state. Someone like
a Raj Thackeray is only a more prominent
incarnation of local goondas in every state who
operate with impunity. Long before Indira
Gandhi allowed the likes of Bhindranwalle to
run free, India has been turning a blind eye
to a growing network of political and criminal
masterminds who know how to subvert
democracy, and manipulate our unwieldy
parliamentary government. Now the chickens
are coming home to roost.
We are casual about injustice in India but
whatever our stand on faith or politics the
slaughter of innocents and the plight of our
fellow Indians is heartbreaking. They are
being blown up by fanatics manipulated
to believe their religion calls for revenge
or butchered by rented mobs for political
mileage. Hordes are motivated strategically
by the absurd religious conversion issue that
clearly violates our fundamental rights. If
you belong to the silent, impotent majority of
Indians who remain mute bystanders as the
killings continue, you have only an illusion
of safety. The forces being unleashed in our
land may kill your neighbors in the name of
religion today; unchecked, they will find other
reasons to deal with you tomorrow.
German Chancellor Bismarck once
observed that, “God looked after idiots,
drunks and the United States of America.”
But publications like Der Spiegel in Germany
say the era of American fiscal dominance in
the world has ended. But India’s corrupt, pus
infected underbelly is even more vulnerable
and our most essential social foundations
highly uncertain. Indian democracy may have
withstood six decades of social, economic and
political challenges, but the rule of law is still
not established in the country. Religion in
India is controlled by politicians and tainted in
blood, the Indian tendency to claim spiritual
high ground is a bad joke. There is something
seriously wrong with India.
In the past I have speculated that in a country
with plural beliefs like ours, an idea to consider
is combined places of worship for all, where
we could share the most meaningful truths
of our faiths. In community halls where there
is harmony, our understanding of each other
would radically improve and large chunks of
prime real estate put to more practical use!
Popular belief often ignores the fact that while
places of worship have religious and historical
significance, they are also monuments to the
ambitions and dubious motivations of various
institutions and clergy hooked on expansion.
Jesus set no such example for earthly
increase - religious empires are entirely
man’s idea.
Frank Raj
Publisher & Founder Editor
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THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN